Thursday, September 6, 2012

I Told You: "Don't Mess With the Turks"

Twenty-odd years ago I found myself talking to an old Turkish soldier about his experience in Korea.
He said the Turks didn't think they were outnumbered until the odds got over 5 or 6 to 1.
Here are a couple comments on one of their battles:

"The heroic soldiers of a heroic nation, you have saved
the Eighth Army and the IX'th Army Corps from encirclement and the 2nd
Division from destruction. I came here today to thank you on behalf of
the United Nations Army."
- General Walton H. Walker, Commander, Eighth Army

"The Turks are the hero of heroes. There is no impossibility for the Turkish Brigade."
- General Douglas MacArthur - United Nations Forces Commander in Chief

The Gurkhas have a similar reputation, here's a story from last month at Republica (Nepal)...

You read that right. An American four-star said they had saved a freakin' division of the U.S. Army.
A five-star was a bit more flowery with his language.

...Nevin Yildirim, a 26-year-old mother of two, lives in a small village in
southwestern Turkey. She said the man, Nurettin Gider, began the
attacks a few days after her husband left in January for a seasonal job
in another town, according to a source close to the case....

...On August 28, at least
five months pregnant by a man who she said continued to rape her,
Yildirim said she decided she had had enough. Gider was climbing up the
back wall of her house. "I knew he was going to rape me again," she said
at her preliminary hearing August 30.

She said she grabbed her
father-in-law's rifle that was hanging on the wall and she shot him. He
tried to draw his gun and she fired again.

"I chased him," she said.
"He fell on the ground. He started cussing. I shot his sexual organ
this time. He became quiet. I knew he was dead. I then cut his head
off."...MORE

If the story is as presented by CNN this is a certified (certifiable?) Bad-ass.

And the Gurkha?

...the Gurkha who decided to stop a gang rape.
He killed three, wounded eight and chased the other 29 off.
He had a knife against firearms.